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Register a new userMulticonfigurational nature of 5f orbitals in uranium and plutonium intermetallics
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Uranium and plutoniums 5f electrons are tenuously poised between strongly bonding with ligand spd-states and residing close to the nucleus. The unusual properties of these elements and their compounds (eg. the six different allotropes of elemental plutonium) are widely believed to depend on the related attributes of f-orbital occupancy and delocalization, for which a quantitative measure is lacking. By employing resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES) and x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy and making comparisons to specific heat measurements, we demonstrate the presence of multiconfigurational f-orbital states in the actinide elements U and Pu, and in a wide range of uranium and plutonium intermetallic compounds. These results provide a robust experimental basis for a new framework for understanding the strongly-correlated behavior of actinide materials.
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We present a theoretical model of the electronic structure of delta-Pu that is consistent with many of the electronic structure related properties of this complex metal. In particular we show that the theory is capable of reproducing the valence band photoelectron spectrum of delta-Pu. We report new experimental photoelectron spectra at several photon energies and present evidence that the electronic structure of delta-Pu is unique among the elements, involving a 5f shell with four 5f electrons in a localized multiplet, hybridizing with valence states, and approximately one 5f electron forming a completely delocalized band state.
The electronic structure of the antiferromagnet uranium nitride (UN) has been studied by angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy using soft X-rays (hn=420-520 eV). Strongly dispersive bands with large contributions from the U 5f states were observed in ARPES spectra, and form Fermi surfaces. The band structure as well as the Fermi surfaces in the paramagnetic phase are well explained by the band-structure calculation treating all the U 5f electrons as being itinerant, suggesting that itinerant description of the U 5f states is appropriate for this compound. On the other hand, changes in the spectral function due to the antiferromagnetic transition were very small. The shapes of the Fermi surfaces in a paramagnetic phase are highly three-dimensional, and the nesting of Fermi surfaces is unlikely as the origin of the magnetic ordering.
We have investigated the electronic states of the uranium monochalcogenide US, which is a typical ferromagnetic uranium compound, using soft x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (SX-PES). In early ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy studies, two peak structures of the U 5f states were observed and have been interpreted that one has an itinerant character around the Fermi level (EF) and the other located below EF has a character of localized U 5f electrons. In this study, the intrinsic bulk valence-band spectrum of US was first deduced by estimating the contribution of surface states to the valence-band spectrum using core-level photoemission spectra. We conclude that the electronic structure of US can be basically described by the itinerant nature of the U 5f electrons from comparison with theoretical valence-band spectra obtained by band-structure calculation in the local-density approximation.
Actinide elements produce a plethora of interesting physical behaviors due to the 5f states. This review compiles and analyzes progress in understanding of the electronic and magnetic structure of the 5f states in actinide metals. Particular interest is given to electron energy-loss spectroscopy and many-electron atomic spectral calculations, since there is now an appreciable library of core d -> valence f transitions for Th, U, Np, Pu, Am, and Cm. These results are interwoven and discussed against published experimental data, such as x-ray photoemission and absorption spectroscopy, transport measurements, and electron, x-ray, and neutron diffraction, as well as theoretical results, such as density-functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory.
We have elucidated the nature of the electron correlation effect in uranium compounds by imaging the partial $mathrm{U}~5f$ density of states (pDOS) of typical itinerant, localized, and heavy fermion uranium compounds by using the $mathrm{U}~4d-5f$ resonant photoemission spectroscopy. Obtained $mathrm{U}~5f$ pDOS exhibit a systematic trend depending on the physical properties of compounds. The coherent peak at the Fermi level can be described by the band-structure calculation, but an incoherent peak emerges on the higher binding energy side ($lesssim 1~mathrm{eV}$) in the Uf pDOS of localized and heavy fermion compounds. As the $mathrm{U}~5f$ state is more localized, the intensity of the incoherent peak is enhanced and its energy position is shifted to higher binding energy. These behaviors are consistent with the prediction of the Mott metal-insulator transition, suggesting that the Hubbard-$U$ type mechanism takes an essential role in the $5f$ electronic structure of actinide materials.
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